In fairness to Stallone, the specific connections to guys like Maguire are drawn by his NYT profiler. Nevertheless, the inference is clear: When it comes to the kind of explodey, R-rated, head-busting, mercenary thrills promised by Stallone's The Expendables, don't send a milquetoast, CGI-ed boy to do a prodigiously pumped man's job:
Asked what had killed classic action films like his Rambo and Rocky series -- which each eked out a respectable performance with retro-style sequels in the past few years -- Mr. Stallone answered in a word: "technology."
When stars could "Velcro their muscles on, it was over," he said.
A lithe but loopy Tobey Maguire could play a perfectly credible Spider-Man, as computer-generated effects made up for the raw athleticism that Mr. Stallone, [Arnold] Schwarzenegger and others brought to their trademark roles. Meanwhile, attitudes changed, as Matt Damon, the self-doubting, Mini-Cooper-driving hero of the Bourne films, set the standard for a new and less violent kind of hero.
Also fun: Stallone sees Taylor Lautner ready to inherit the muscle-bound mantle. And Jean-Claude Van Damme declined the role that Stallone eventually offered to his Rocky IV nemesis Dolph Lungren, reportedly telling the actor-director, "[Y]ou should be trying to save people in South Central." I smell sequel!